TGIF Toys: Going green is her game

She's no meanie; she's just a sweet beanie ... That luscious Poison Ivy relaxes here among her "pets" after a long, hard day of eluding Batman. She was part of the bean-bag toy collection that surfaced at the Warner Bros. Studio Store of your local mall about a decade ago. Hard-core fans of "Batman: The Animated Series" will recognize that she reflects the redesign the show underwent to launch off into "The New Batman Adventures" (the Catwoman of the collection has a really blue face -- ack!). Whatever. She's delightful. And she takes good care of the plants at BRBTV headquarters.

Photo by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

Catch the new "Scooby-Doo" series on Monday

Cartoon Network is rolling out some brand-new Scooby-Doo, preceding it with all kinds of vintage Doo, too. This coming Monday, July 12, marks the premiere of the new series "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated," following the gang as they unravel the haunted history of their hometown, Crystal Cove. The show debuts at 7 p.m. Eastern, and you can see a preview at Cartoon Network's site.

The series will draw on voices very familiar to Scooby fans: Casey Kasem, Mindy Cohn, Matthew Lillard, Frank Welker. Vivica A. Fox, Gary Cole and Patrick Warburton are also part of the cast.

The first episode of the new show, "Beware the Beast From Below," will repeat several times all next week; check the Cartoon Network schedule for showtimes. Before the Monday premiere, catch a big block of the show "What's New Scooby-Doo" on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. The channel is also featuring episodes of the original "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" on Sunday beginning at 10:30 a.m.  Then, all afternoon on Monday, you'll see all kinds of juicy Scooby movies before the news series premiere.

See James Best in a one-man show in Indianapolis in September

Tickets might go fast, so hop onto the Eventbrite page to reserve your seat for a special evening with our own Rosco P. Coltrane, Mr. James Best. There will be film clips and tales of the classic Hollywood that Best was once a part of, years before he chased down them Duke boys.

Best, an Indiana native, will appear at a small, restored historic theatre in Greenfield -- a small town just 15 miles east of Indianapolis:

Ricks Centre for the Arts

122 W. Main Street
Greenfield, IN 46140

It's one night only, September 11, and the tickets are well worth it, just $15.

Cruisin' with some great classic star cars

It's summer, and it's cruisetime in the good ole U.S. of A. Who doesn't love an old-fashioned car cruise? And isn't it even better when there are some recognizable star cars involved? BRBTV got these shots from our buddy Mike, who participated (with a couple of his own cars, shown here) in the downriver Detroit cruise a couple weekends back. All in all, there was "Starsky and Hutch," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "The Monkees," "Ghostbusters," "Herbie"-whatever and more, represented in such classic style. Plus, Mike reports, "We smashed the 'most famous cars in one spot' Hooters record. Got six, and ran outta lawn."

By the way, speaking of "The Dukes of Hazzard," have ya heard that our buddy John Schneider, Bo Duke to us, will be returning to the CW's "Smallville" at the beginning of the series' 10th season, on September 24? Meow on that! The episode is called "Lazarus." Read the IGN story that broke the news.

TGIF Toys: Peek-a-boo, I see you, Doo!!!

You know how it is -- every time there's some spooky ghoul chasin' you down, you've got to find the nearest coffin to hide in. At least that's what Burger King figured, when it crafted its set of "Scooby-Doo" Kids’ Meal toys in 1996. This clever little coffin moves on tiny wheels, with the heads of Velma, Scoob and Daphne bobbing up and down as it goes. Scooberific, man.




Photo by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

BRBTV birthdays for July

- Brock Peters, who voiced Lucius Fox on "Batman: The Animated Series," was born on July 2, 1927 and died on August 23, 2005.
- Signy Coleman, our Celeste DiNapoli of "Santa Barbara," who also did an 1987 episode of "Dallas," turns 50 on Independence Day.
- Rosemary Forsyth, the original Sophia Capwell (and Dominic) of "SB," and Anne McFadden on "Dallas," turns 67 on July 6.
- Grant Goodeve, who was Chris Deegan on "Dynasty," also has a birthday on July 6, turning 58.
- Deborah Tranelli, our own Phyllis Wapner of "Dallas," turns 55 on July 6.
- Kimberly Foster, who portrayed Michelle Stevens on "Dallas," is our fourth July 6 birthday, turning 49.
- Cree Summer, Terry's buddy Max on "Batman Beyond," turns 41 on July 7.
- William Smithers, who was Jeremy Wendell on "Dallas," turns 83 on July 10.
- Michael Rosenbaum, who voiced several characters in "Batman Beyond" (Ollie, Carl, Wendell), "Justice League" (the Flash) and the like, and whom BRBTV misses very much on the CW's "Smallville," turns 38 on July 11.
- Sandy Ward, who played Jeb Ames on "Dallas," was born on July 12, 1926, and died on March 6, 2005.
- Dale Robertson, who was Walter Lankershim on "Dynasty" and Frank Crutcher on "Dallas," turns 87 on July 14.
- Ken Kercheval, our unforgettable Cliff Barnes of "Dallas," turns 75 on July 15.
- Derek McGrath, who was the eccentric Oswald Valentine on "Dallas," turns 61 on July 15.
- Barbara Stanwyck, the legendary film star who was Constance Colby on "The Colbys," was born on July 16, 1907 and died on January 20, 1990.
- Diahann Carroll, the songstress who vexed Alexis as Dominique Devereaux on "Dynasty," turns 75 on July 17.
- Audrey Landers, who was Afton Cooper on "Dallas" and a couple roles on "The Dukes of Hazzard," turns 51 on July 18.
- George Dzundza, the voice of the Ventriloquist on "Batman: The Animated Series," turns 65 on July 19.
- Paul Burke, the second C.C. Capwell of "Santa Barbara," who also did a memorable turn on "Dynasty" as Neal McVane, was born on July 21, 1926, and died on September 13, 2009.
- Art Hindle, who brokered babies as Jeff Farraday on "Dallas," turns 62 on July 21.
- Lenore Kasdorf, the lovely Caroline Wilson on "SB," turns 62 on July 23.
- James Best, our own Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane of "The Dukes of Hazzard," turns 84 on July 26.
- Dierdre Imershein, who was the caught-in-the-middle Jory Taylor on "Dallas," turns 47 on July 26.
- Keenan Wynn, the second Digger Barnes on "Dallas," was born on July 27, 1916 and died on October 14, 1986.
- Sasha Mitchell, another "Dallas" alum as long-lost Ewing son James Beaumont, turns 43 on July 27.
- Lloyd Bochner, who was Cecil Colby on "Dynasty," was born on July 29, 1924 and died on October 29, 2005.
- David Warner, who was the commanding and ghoulish Ra's al Ghul on "Batman: The Animated Series," turns 69 on July 29.
- Ben Piazza, our own Walt Driscoll of "Dallas," was born on July 30, 1934, and died on September 7, 1991.
- Susan Flannery, who played Leslie Stewart on "Dallas," turns 71 on July 31.
- Lane Davies, the unforgettable original Mason Capwell on "Santa Barbara," who showed up on "Dallas" as Craig Gurney, also has a birthday on July 31, turning 60.


Happy birthday to all!


BRBTV News Blog Blip: She played a rather disliked character on "Santa Barbara," but Constance Marie has done OK for herself over the years, hasn't she? And she sure hasn't aged a bit since her days as Nikki Alvarez. Marie popped up yesterday on the People magazine site, blogging about her "Sick, Sad, Snotty Baby!"

Nicolas Coster's character will be the mayor on "The Bay"

Here at BRBTV, we've been eagerly awaiting the debut of "The Bay," partly because we're curious, from a historical television perspective, as to how this whole web soap thing is going to fly, but mostly because of the three "Santa Barbara" stars who will be featured on the series, as we reported recently. (And there's a possibility of more "SB" stars popping up, but we can't tell ya just yet what our roving reporter Tracy has learned!)

The series premieres on Wednesday, September 15 at 3 p.m. Eastern on the LANYFilms YouTube channel, and will repeat that evening in higher-res on Blip TV.

The production company released some info this morning, including the formal intro to our beloved former Lionel Lockridge, correcting previously released info on the name of Coster's character:

"We are proud to announce two additional stars who will be guest appearing on the first season of 'The Bay.' Seasoned film and television icon and 9x soap opera veteran Nicolas Coster (best known to the daytime world as Lionel Lockridge, 'Santa Barbara') will make a special guest appearance in Chapter 6 of the series as Mayor Jack Madison, alongside soap stud Brody Hutzler (Patrick Lockhart, 'Days of Our Lives,' Cody Dixon, 'The Young and the Restless') in the role of Press Secretary Kenneth Allen. Additional soap stars will also be joining Coster and Hutzler in Chapter 6 to introduce a potential spin-off of 'The Bay,' tentatively scheduled for an early 2011 premiere."

It's certainly an ambitious endeavor that producer Gregori J. Martin is embarking on, and we can't wait.

TGIF Toys: Watch that table talk, J.R.

The object: Be the first to accumulate $20 million in holdings of assets and / or cash.
The method: Relentlessly steal from your opponents and deviously protect your own holdings.
The inspiration: J.R. Ewing, of course.

From Mego Corp., maker of those fine 8-inch dolls from the '70s and '80s (and a set of prototype 4" figures from "Dallas," by the way) comes this card game, snagged on eBay several years ago. For two to four players age 8 and up (isn't that a little young?!), the game features cash cards and asset cards for "wheeling, dealing and stealing." Great, deal us in.

Photo by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

Spotted: David Hedison

BRBTV has been powering through the classic "Wonder Woman" episodes on DVD in order to provide synopses at the IMDb (and in order, of course, to indulge our love of classic TV!), and whom do we spot the other day but a star from our beloved "Dynasty" spinoff, "The Colbys." David Hedison portrayed the dashing Roger Langdon, a lord by title and the onetime commander of Francesca Colby's heart.

On the second-season "Wonder Woman" episode "The Queen and the Thief," Hedison is every bit as charming and every bit as indicative of that international verve'. Cloaked in the cover of a secret agent, he quickly wins the trust of an enchantingly-blue-eyed Juliet Mills as Queen Kathryn, American-born monarch of the exotic Malachar (is that where they mine malachite? OK, sorry). But Hedison's character, Evan Robley, is really a suave thief after the queen's jewels! He sure makes Wonder Woman work hard to convince the queen he's a phony! Ooooh-la-la!

A decade before he returned to Colbyland to try to win back Francesca, Hedison is young, refined, cultured, and all classy-crook in this role. See the October 1977 ep for yourself at the WB, and read the full BRBTV synopsis at the IMDb.

John Callahan, Nicolas Coster and Lane Davies join cast of web soap

Oooh, we love such a fine round-up of news on a Monday morning ... It's a mini-"Santa Barbara" reunion. Lane Davies, our own original Mason Capwell, along with Nicolas Coster (Lionel Lockridge) and John Callahan (Craig Hunt), are part of the cast of a new web soap premiering this fall.

"Following the life of socialite Sara Garrett and the people around her, 'The Bay' is a new independent soap opera in the vein of Aaron Spelling's 1980's classic primetime hit, 'Dynasty,'" says the description on the show's home page, which includes buttons for donations.

Callahan will start out on the show, which began shooting this month, then Davies and Coster will join in subsequent chapters. Coster's character name is Frank Perkins, while Callahan is portraying Mackenzie Johnson. Davies is to-be-determined (can we offer suggestions????).

Interesting concept, this whole web soap thing. And we're detecting a rather "classic" touch on this one, complete with '80s/'90s music and '80s/'90s stars. We'll be sure to check it out.

And that's not all! Catch Callahan in this weekend's creature feature on Syfy, "Dinocroc vs. Supergator." It's 9 p.m. Eastern on Saturday. Callahan also just appeared in this month's "The A-Team."

"SB" castmate Terri Garber, meanwhile (Suzanne Collier), will return to her character Iris Dumbrowski on "As the World Turns" in mid-July.

BRBTV News Blog Blip: Patrick Duffy, our beloved Bobby Ewing of "Dallas," will appear on this Friday's episode of "Price is Right" with host Drew Carey. Catch a little more at Soaps.com.

TGIF Toys: Not just another boy next door!

Isn't he such a little sweetie-pie? He really is such a little sweetie-pie! (We tell him that as often as we can, you know.) He's our guy Arch, and he's actually not that little. He's about 18" high and crafted by Presents from 1987. He was one of our great finds back when the (Internet) world was young and we were so deeply infatuated with eBay, long before we had to curb our addiction and any search on "Archie Comics" would yield such yummy, varied results of odds and ends we'd never before laid eyes on! Oh, to be that young again!!!!

Photo by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

Spotted: Ted Shackelford

He has the nice distinction of being about the only man on the 1970s show "Wonder Woman" to actually call poor Diana Prince pretty. He's the young taxi driver, Pete, who meets Diana when she arrives in Los Angeles on a mission to find Steve Trevor. He's also Ted Shackelford, known to us as the second, and permanent, Gary Ewing of "Dallas" and its spinoff, "Knots Landing."

Pete doesn't shy away from adventure in this second-season episode, "Knockout," which originally aired in October 1977, not long before Shackelford saddled up on "Dallas." When Diana warns him that their cab is being followed and he may be in danger, he not only hangs onto his fare -- he punches the bad guys for her! Wonder Woman then steps in to help, and he's appropriately stunned by the Amazon beauty.

Shackelford is friendly, noble and street-smart in the role, as well as California-blond handsome and an ex-Marine. Ironically, his young son in the episode is named Ted. Watch it yourself at the WB, and find BRBTV synopses of this and the other "Wonder Woman" episodes at the IMDb.

By the way, Shackelford worked in one more episode of the "WW" series before heading off to Texas.

TGIF Toys: A vintage Rooby-Doo!

This lovable stuffed poochie, complete with original tag dated 1980, was secured at a Michigan antiques mall for about $6 in the late ‘90s. Worth every heckin' penny. Like last week's photo, we shot this for the BRBTV Report on the show (the original "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!", you understand -- we're purists around here! though we haven't been known to turn down a good "Pup Named Scooby-Doo" episode!).





Photo by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

John Schneider to appear on the "Huckabee" show, and more

Thanks once again to Phyllis at the John Schneider Unofficial Fan Club on Facebook (which Schneider just joined, by the way) for this great update on the current projects of our own Bo Duke of "The Dukes of Hazzard":

- Schneider will be filming the "Huckabee" show in New York City on June 26. It will air on June 26 and June 27 on Fox News at 8 p.m. Eastern. Tune in to hear John singing "The Promise"!

- Schneider is in Santa Clarita, California, filming a web-based sci-fi show called "10,000 Days." There will be 10 episodes, two of which have already been shot.

- The movie "WWJD," in which Schneider portrays a drifter, can be purchased now at http://www.wwjdmovie.com/.

- The movie "Wild Things: Foursome," in which John portrays Det. Frank Walker, is also available now. Check it out at places like Amazon.com.

- Don't forget to watch John on "Hot In Cleveland" on June 16 at 10 p.m. Eastern.

- For personal appearances, Schneider will be meeting fans at the Chicago Comic Con on August 21 and 22. For more information go to http://www.wizardworld.com/home-ch.html.

Catch the new Comics Continuum TV show, and catch BRB doing some fun interviews

Once upon a time, a decade or so ago, Billie Rae Bates did some writing and photography for the Comics Continuum website, which began its life as the Comic Book Continuum under the umbrella of The Detroit News, before branching out on its own. The site, wildly popular over the years, has now become a TV show. Debuting on Detroit's Channel 20 (MyTV) this past Saturday afternoon, the half-hour weekly series mixes what's going on in the world of comic books with the latest in film, TV and animation.

If you catch the Comics Continuum TV show, and if you watch the website, you'll see BRB doing video interviews like the one below. She spent this past weekend at HeroesCon in Charlotte, N.C., working on some great footage to be seen in the coming weeks and months. Click here to see her chatting with writer Christos Gage about his work on the upcoming Kevin Sorbo movie "Paradox."

If you're in Metro Detroit, tune in to the show at 1:30 p.m. Saturdays!

TGIF Toys: Futuristic Bat-villains on the loose!!!!

This is not your father's Joker ... maybe your grandkid's, instead. This is a member of the Jokerz gang from a half-century in the future, to be exact, along with Inque, Derek Powers / Blight, and a few Batmen Beyond to keep 'em in line!

This fun gang is from Burger King’s 2000 Kids’ Meal toys, in celebration of the "Batman Beyond" show when it was in its second season on the Kids WB! We shot this photo for our BRBTV Report on the show: Inque is a keychain, the Jokerz' bike spins off the pad with a pull cord, and Derek Powers' "suit" breaks in half to reveal the glowing supervillain within. Oh, and that red top-thingie spins and lights up, if we recall correctly (the toys are now safely in storage!).

All in all, sooooo worth multiple trips to Burger King a decade ago ...




Photo by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

Joan Collins to appear at FanExpo in Canada

Joan Collins at a con? You betcha -- our "Dynasty" grande dame is forever a part of "Star Trek" lore for doing that blockbuster original episode "City on the Edge of Forever." Canada's FanExpo is pretty keen on that; Collins is on the guest list for the event, August 27-29, in Toronto.

For good measure, her "City" co-star William Shatner is on the guest list, as well, along with Adam West, Burt Ward (nice to see them both at the same con -- kinda rare, actually), Leslie Neilsen and more. The con, beyond the typical comics guests, also explores the genres of sci fi, horror, anime and gaming.

BRBTV birthdays for June

- Robin Mattson, the second and perhaps liveliest Gina DeMott-Capwell-And-On-And-On on "Santa Barbara," turns 54 on June 1.
- David Haskell, the long-suffering Nick Hartley on "SB," was born on June 4, 1948 and died on August 30, 2000.
- Colleen Camp, the original Kristin Shepard on "Dallas," who also turned up as Bonnie Lane in the "Dukes of Hazzard" episode "Trouble at Cooter's," turns 57 on June 7.
- Alexis Smith, such a scene-eater as Lady Jessica Montford on "Dallas," was born on June 8, 1921 and died on the day after her birthday, 1993.
- Andrew Stevens, that young upstart Casey Denault on "Dallas," turns 55 on June 10.
- Sherman Howard, who was the voice of villain Derek Powers on "Batman Beyond," turns 61 on June 11.
- Adrienne Barbeau, the sultry voice of Catwoman on "Batman: The Animated Series," turns 65 on June 11.
- Jenilee Harrison, the slightly ditzy Jamie Ewing on "Dallas," turns 51 on June 12.
- Waylon Jennings, our "Dukes of Hazzard" balladeer, was born on June 15, 1937 and died on February 13, 2002.
- Eileen Davidson, the last Kelly Capwell on "Santa Barbara," turns 51 on June 15.
- Aron Kincaid, the creepy Killer Croc on "Batman: The Animated Series," turns 70 on June 15.
- Joan Van Ark, Lucy's mom Valene Ewing on "Dallas" and its spinoff "Knots Landing," turns 67 on June 16.
- Nedra Volz, our bright and feisty Miz Tisdale on "Dukes," was born on June 18, 1908 and died on January 20, 2003.
- Leigh McCloskey, who is a BRBTV triple-shot as Mitch Cooper on "Dallas" and both Zack Kelton and Ethan Asher on "Santa Barbara," turns 55 on June 21.
- Monte Markham, who played Clint Ogden on "Dallas," turns 75 on June 21.
- Paula Irvine, who played the second Lilly Light Blake on "SB," was born the same year as BRB and turns a neat 42 on June 22.
- Ted Shackelford, who was Gary Ewing on "Dallas" and its spinoff, "Knots Landing," turns 64 on June 23.
- John McIntire, who was Sen. Sam Culver on "Dallas," was born on June 27, 1907 and died January 30, 1991.
- Pamela Bellwood, whom we saw flip that lightswitch on "Dynasty" more times than we care to count, turns 59 on June 26.

Happy birthday to all!!

TGIF Toys: A Dark and Stormy Knight

There he is, the guardian of Gotham -- and of laptops. He's the big, beautiful, oversized Batman of the "Justice League" figure line. BRBTV actually owns three of these guys. This particular one, which tends to perch itself atop BRB's desk, was snagged as part of an eBay lot. Watch those fingers, folks ...


Photo by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

BRBTV now has a YouTube channel

Yea, yea, we know ... welcome to the new millennium! Yea, and we still use the two VCRs we own!!!! Anyhow, BRBTV has at long last begun a YouTube channel so that we can share some of the fun tidbits and precious moments we encounter when we're out on the road seein' all the amazing things we see!

For instance, in this inaugural BRBTV YouTube video, Mr. Don Pedro Colley tells all about how he first nabbed the role of Sheriff Ed Little on "The Dukes of Hazzard." This video was shot at the Motor City Comic Con a week or two back ... We gave you quotes last week, but now you can experience the whole story ...




So stay tuned; we'll be uploading more, including shots of the "A-Team" van jumping at last summer's Professional Stuntman Invitational in Concord, North Carolina, and great Hollywood stunt guys like Buzz Bundy talking about their craft and their time on "Knight Rider" at the first-ever Knight Rider Festival in Las Vegas last year!

TGIF Toys: Motor City Comic Con!

We're going to round out our full week of coverage of the 2010 Motor City Comic Con by also tying in our regular Friday feature, TGIF Toys. And it's as simple as ending the week where we began, with "The Dukes of Hazzard."

A sprinkling of toys, for your viewing pleasure, from the event's Canadian Dukes of Hazzard museum display, ranging in a variety of "Dukes" incarnations over the years ...

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

Copying with credit is OK; a link would be grand

Motor City Comic Con: Other fun and games

The costumes were out in full force at last weekend's Motor City Comic Con in Novi, Michigan. We saw all kinds of Batmans (even a cute little Batgirl in hot pink and silver!), other Bat-characters, a great Sinestro, a rather metallic Aquaman, a Leatherface, the obligatory Princess Leias in the fleshy slave outfit, and of course all kinds of other "Star Wars" characters. Above is one of the quite-well-attended photo ops that occurred throughout the weekend.

One of the best aspects of this weekend was the opportunity to see many of our friends that we only see on Facebook and other online spots the rest of the year. Above, Eric, for instance, with whom BRB once worked at The Detroit News, belongs to a "Star Trek" club called Osiris and was there with the club's display on Sunday.

Many thanks to everyone else we saw along the way -- all of the other Facebook friends who were made "real" friends once again at this event, as well as the new friends who popped in to see the "Dukes" display and visit BRB's table ... It was great fun, and we were blessed by each one of you!!!!

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

Copying with credit is OK; a link would be grand

Motor City Comic Con: The power of star cars

You can't come to an event like the Motor City Comic Con and not see some cool star cars (especially since this is Deeee-troit we're talkin' about!). This past weekend's event at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, Michigan, showed some nice variety this year. Really, tell us ... how often do you see one of these ...

Yes, this is the Ecto 1 car from "Ghostbusters." Very nicely done, with an amazing amount of detail. And we're not just saying that because the owner is a friend of ours. Mike, of Metro Detroit, worked furiously on this thing in the (very) few months leading up to the event to get it ready for its big debut. Take a 360-degree spin around the car in this YouTube video.

During the weekend, Mike (above left) and our friend Krista of Philadelphia (at the camera below) offered photos with the car -- with full "Ghostbusters" gear! -- for only $5. Needless to say, it was a popular feature of the con.

BRB got to ride out of the convention hall in the car with Mike and Krista on Sunday evening, with every camera phone in the place firmly trained on!

Here's another one you don't see every day ... the Black Beauty from the '60s "Green Hornet" series.

And this macabre scene? If you don't recognize it, you're not a fan of the '70s/'80s "Mad Max" films.

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

Copying with credit is OK; a link would be grand

Motor City Comic Con: Jenilee Harrison, Johnny Green and other famous faces

Our buddy Will "The Voice Man" Rodgers is a big "Dallas" fan, so what a privilege to be photographed with Ms. Jenilee Harrison, our own Jamie Ewing. Harrison appeared at this past weekend's Motor City Comic Con in Novi, Michigan, and the BRBTV News Blog continues special weeklong coverage of the event with this snapshot of the two along with some other assorted schtuff.

BRBTV got a chance to chat with Harrison a bit on Saturday morning. She's been involved in several ventures, including a horse farm and other projects related to her love of animals. She's been producing in the TV world and has a project coming up that's she discussing with CBS. She says it could air as soon as late this fall.



Also at the event for diehard classic TV fans was Dawn Wells of "Gilligan's Island" and Lindsay Wagner of "Bionic Woman." It's the first time we got to meet Wagner -- very cool. She tells BRBTV that the "Bionic Woman" DVDs are due out this summer (it's been reported that there were legal issues surrounding the long-awaited release) but that she has not been asked yet to tape any special features.




BRBTV also had the pleasure of meeting Johnny Green, who with his band back in the '60s appeared on the Adam West "Batman" series. He was a henchman of the Joker, and you can see him well in the episode, "Surf's Up, Joker's Under." Green -- whose hair is green, you know -- has been around Hollywood a long time. He was Liberace's agent for 37 years, and managed Bob Hope for 35 years.



Green, who accompanied Adam West at his table at the Novi con, told BRBTV the story of first nabbing the gig on "Batman," a point in his life when he was "starving" and living in a junky apartment. All of a sudden, upon landing the part, he was making $350 every three days.

"We went from nothing to something," he says. "Adam says, 'Johnny, we've been blessed.' He really appreciates where we've come from."

Green was driving a 1932 Lincoln at the time, and it drew the eye of Lucille Ball one day. "She says, 'I want that car -- it brings back memories.'" Ball leased the car from him for $175 a month. "I was rich!" he quips. Eventually, Ball offered him $7,500 for the car.

Nowadays, you can learn more about Green at his site, http://www.johnnygreenandthegreenmen.8m.com/.

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV
except for the above shot of BRB with Johnny Green by Cousin Don!
Copying with credit is OK; a link would be grand

Motor City Comic Con: We love us some "Dukes" ...

... At least ... one Duke and a lawman ... Mr. Byron Cherry and Mr. Don Pedro Colley, known respectively (and respectfully) as Coy Duke and Sheriff Ed Little of "The Dukes of Hazzard," were on hand at this past weekend's Motor City Comic Con at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, Michigan. We kick off a full week of coverage of the event with this check-in from our beloved "Dukes" realm ...

The "Dukes" has had a presence at this con for many years, but we're pretty sure this is the first time that "Dukes" guests have been featured in a panel discussion. On Friday late afternoon, Colley and Cherry assembled in one of the panel rooms along with Will "The Voice Man" Rodgers, Paul Harrington of the Canadian Dukes of Hazzard Fan Club and BRB herself to talk "Dukes."

Colley told the story of his spin on the classic show "Daktari" that eventually led to his role on "The Dukes," through the Leonard Kaufman connection (see our August 27, 2008 post). He described his strong, stern audition as Sheriff Little, when he could barely be convinced to read from a script, he was so in character:

"Sheriff Little is being told this big lie about Boss Hogg," he said to set the audition scene, "and he has a shotgun, and he cocks his shotgun as emphasis to the lie. Well, you don't have a shotgun in the producer's office. You can't very well walk around ... So I said, if you focus the sound of 'cow chips' just right, it can sound like you're cocking a shotgun. Cow-chips! Cow-chips! So I came up on the line, and I went, 'Cow-chips!' Paul Picard came right up out of his chair about that far. Boom! And he looked at me, and right after that, he's stumbling and fumbling and says, 'Well, thank-you, thank-you for the audition. That'll be enough.' I said, 'Oh, thank-you, Mr. Picard!' I took off my hat. I shook his hand. ...

"I left the office, and I no sooner got outside of his office than the telephone rang for the secretary. She says, 'It's Mr. Leonard. He wants you to come over and talk to him.' So I went over and said thank-you and so forth. And while I'm in Leonard's office, the phone rings again, and they said, 'Be ready to go to work tomorrow morning. The script is on your way. And later this afternoon you'll get a costume, and you'll pick up your costume,' and so forth. And the rest is 'the rest of the story.' "

Cherry, meanwhile, shared the story of his original audition for "The Dukes" (which was for the part of Bo, at the very beginning of the series' production) and how he later nabbed the role of Coy Duke.

Back at the Canadian Dukes of Hazzard museum display, things were hoppin' and fun all weekend. Above, display organizer Paul Harrington goofs around with Byron Cherry and a couple "Dukes" fans who traveled from long distance -- Ken of Denmark and Sabine of Germany, whom BRBTV was delighted to meet after crossing paths so many times on Facebook!

Ken tells us he first saw "The Dukes" in only 2006, but Sabine was able to begin watching the series in Germany in 1989, after satellite TV opened up new possibilities there. She says "The Dukes" aired in the late afternoon, and sometimes repeated the next morning.

"I think they missed a few episodes," she laughs. "I never could figure out why they had two sets of cousins."

The episodes were dubbed, but Sabine now owns all of the seasons on DVD, so she can actually hear the real actors in their real roles, in real English!

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV
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